Tripel the fun

I was fortunate to get to visit the Westmalle brewery a couple of years ago. The most unusual thing I noticed was how this otherwise quite normal industrial-sized brewery only ever makes three beers, and most of that is just one beer: Westmalle Dubbel. In amongst the canyons of brown crates in the cellars there's only the occasional patch of cream or pale blue, for Tripel and Extra.

Now the two lesser siblings have got together to create a new draught product: Westmalle Duo. It's a 60/40 blend of the pair, and I guess the idea is to deliver the complexity of Westmalle Tripel at a more approachable strength. Still, it's 7.2% ABV, so I wouldn't exactly deem it a session beer.

In Dublin I found it on tap at The Porterhouse, a pub that has been known to serve draught Westmalle Dubbel by the pint, albeit not any time recently. Duo is a bright gold and completely clear. The aroma is unmistakably that of a golden Belgian ale, exuding fruit and flowers in colourful abundance. It leans fully into that in the flavour, almost too much so, with oodles of very ripe melon, pear, lychee and similar pale and sweet juicy fruits. This is perfumed up with lavender and jasmine top notes, plus a sprinkling of Westmalle Tripel's pithy spices.

It has been a while since I last drank either of the component beers, but this did not seem at all like a compromise between them. The dilution of the alcohol has not in any way diluted the taste. Draught serving also results in a lighter carbonation, which may be why the flavour seems so pronounced. There's also plenty of slick and smooth body to give it a long and luxurious finish.

My assumption that this is a slightly cynical attempt at extending Westmalle's share of throat (shudder) remains, but it is still a superb beer. It's perfect for that one last one of the night, when you want the big flavour and the heft, and maybe there's nothing suitable in the venue's small-pack selection. I don't know how many Irish pubs will be willing to keep a 7.2% ABV on draught, though. I wish we could fix that.